Georgetown, Texas - Southwestern volleyball will start the season and the first game of their California trip 0-1 after falling 3-0 to the University of La Verne Leopards. 

Southwestern was down early in the first set and trailed by as much as six points, 7-13, midway through the first. The Pirates were then able to battle back to tie the set at 18-18 and again at 22-22, but a crushing three-point run gave the Leopards the first-set win. 

The Pirate squad came out sharper in the second set and took fourteen of the first twenty-three points before La Verne rattled off six more points to give the Leopards the 16-14 lead. Both teams exchanged points throughout the rest of the set until a burst of energy from the Leopards led to a five-point run, giving them a second-set win by a margin of 19-25.

The Leopards and the Pirates again kicked off the third set going back and forth, however, long extended runs for La Verne were too much for Southwestern to handle and La Verne came out on top 18-25.

Despite the first game loss, Coach Don Flora believes this will be a great learning opportunity for his team.

Southwestern is back at it today against Pomona-Pitzer at 2:45 PM CDT and again against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 7:30 CDT.